Maris Amici
by snape'smistress-in-law
Summary: Regulus' death is a nightmare come true for him. Oneshot.


Maris Amici

Regulus Antares Black could not swim. Very few people in his family could. He was never bothered by this fact, he never felt the need to jump in the water and save dying children. But recently he had been having rather haunting dreams of drowning and they perturbed him.

On December eleventh Regulus went to bed wearing a muggle life jacket hoping it might somehow block his dreams. It didn't work. As soon as he fell asleep, the dreams started.

_Regulus stood on a rocky cliff, the wind whipping around him, his clothes sticking to his body. Ten feet below him water crashed against the rocks. Regulus turned around. Behind him a muggle woman stood shivering with a locket in her hand. Regulus snatched the locket from her and then he was _

_F_

_A_

_L_

_L_

_I_

_N_

_G_

_into the water. SPLASH! HE hit the black river and pulled himself up to the surface gasping for air. He reached down to his shoes to pull them off and take some weight off and in the process he dropped the locket. Struggling to get it back and stay alive, his head went under again. Opening his eyes he saw blackness surrounding him, pressing him own from al sides, forcing him to the bottom. Easily giving in, Regulus opened his mouth and let the water in his lungs…_

Regulus woke up gasping for air. As his breathing calmed down he went down to the kitchen for a glass of…hot chocolate.

o0o

On December 25 Regulus went muggle hunting-sort of. He went to a muggle orphanage which was an excellent place to find helpless muggles. He picked out a young woman with raven black hair, clamped his hand over her mouth and Apparated wither to somewhere not far from his destination.

As soon as he let go of her mouth she screamed. Regulus smirked. "Typical animal instinct. No one can hear."

"Who are you?" demanded the woman.

"Regulus Antares Black," he said grandly. "A wizard. A _pureblood _wizard."

"What on Earth do you-"

"Silence!" Regulus said, pulling out his wand. "I don't have time for your mindless chatter."

"You're insane," the woman whispered.

Regulus laughed. "Maybe," he said. He reached out and grabbed her arm, Apparating to a rocky cliff. As the woman, bound by various spells to the spot she was standing on, shouted curses at him and repeated her thoughts on his mental stability, Regulus paced up and down the edge of the cliff, muttering to himself. "Got it," he said finally. "Come here woman."

"My name is Maura!" she said. Regulus ignored her and grabbed her arm pulling out a silver dagger. Maura screamed.

"Shut up you dirty woman!" Regulus said angrily, cutting her arm open and letting it drip on the rock. "One thing to thank mother for-being well versed in the Dark Arts. Go in!"

"No!"

Go!" he shouted, holding the dagger to her throat.

"Okay," the woman said meekly, stepping into the cave. When she didn't fall over dead, Regulus followed.

Looking at the giant lake he ordered the woman, "Do NOT touch the water!"

The girl nodded, frightened out of her mind.

For twenty minutes Regulus paced, trying to find out how to get to the center of the lake. "There _has _to be a way," he muttered.

Maura screamed and Regulus turned around. A little behind him, Maura was standing, bathed in a green glow. Regulus stared at her. "A _muggle_ figured it out!" he asked incredulously. But he was pleased anyway. A green, glowing boat appeared out of the lake. "Get in," he ordered the woman, who obeyed immediately. The boat was small, but Regulus managed to squeeze in.

"What am I doing here?" Maura asked.

"Sitting in this boat and not talking," Regulus said through gritted teeth.

"But what if-"

"Shut up!"

"Yessir!"

When they got to the island in the middle, Regulus got off the boat and Maura followed him. Regulus walked confidently to the basin in the center of the island that had a green glow similar to the boat's. Pulling a goblet out of his pocket, he scooped out some of the liquid and handed it to Maura. "Drink,' he commanded.

Maura took the goblet fearfully and attempted to drink it. "It won't come out, sir," she said finally.

Regulus growled. "Figures he would of thought f that. Fine. Then listen carefully," he said grabbing Maura's chin and forcing her to look him in the eye. "You cannot escape, there are Inferi in that water. DO-NOT-TOUCH-THAT-WATER! You will feed me this potion until you can get the locket out, and then you will replace it with this, understand?" Maura nodded, accepting the locket he gave her. "Good," he said, starting to drink the potion. After the second goblet-full, he started moaning. Shaking, Maura took the goblet and filled it. "No, no," Regulus moaned.

"Drink," Maura said, mimicking Regulus' command.

After the fourth goblet, Regulus shouted, "SIRIUS! Sirius, no, no. I'm sorry-no-please, no-Sirius!"

Maura held the fifth goblet-full to his mouth. "Drink it, sir."

Regulus immediately drank it like he hadn't drunk in weeks. "No, Sirius," he moaned. "No, I'm a disappointment. They don't want me-nobody wants me."

"They'll want you if you drink this."

"No-no-don't leave me-please-please-don't go-don't-leave."

"No one's going anywhere."

"Sirius! Your brother. You can't-oh, please don't-" Regulus moaned, sobbing. HE paused to drain his eight goblet-full. "Mommy!" he screamed. "Mommy, please! Don't make me-don't want to-please, mommy, please."

By this time, Maura was not only scared out of her mind, but she also felt a little sorry for the older man. Remembering her own mother, she said, "Shh baby, shh Drink this. It'll be alright."

"Mommy-Sirius-no-no-don't leave-please don't."

"Just a little more, baby."

"No-you can't leave-I love you-don't leave-your my brother-my only brother."

"Almost there."

"No, no-don't hurt me like this. Oh, please no."

"C'mon..."

"No, no..."

Sighing with relief, Maura grabbed the locket and threw n the fake. The basin instantly replenished "C'mon," she said.

"Water," Regulus said hoarsely.

Maura shook her head. There was no way she was touching that water after what he had said and she had seen. "You can have water later," she said, hoisting the skinny man onto the boat. He moaned for water the whole way back, but as soon they got to the other side, he stopped and his eyes fluttered open.

"I made it?" he asked.

"Yep," Maura said. "Are you going to kill me now?"

"No, they'll probably just wipe your memory," Regulus muttered, using some of Maura's blood to get out. Once again, he was standing on a rocky cliff with Maura standing behind him, the locket in her hand. As he reached out to take it from her he lost his balance and slipped of the cliff. As he fell he thought, "Figures. Only my nightmares come true."

**A/n: I started this back when I started my Regulus Rampage and I never got around to finishing it until now. I hope you like it, because I do. I don't know what language the title is in, but it means water friend, roughly.**


End file.
